ILOILO – The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) should continue operating checkpoints across the province, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
“May ginabantayan pa kita,” said Defensor, and he was not just referring to people who are possible carriers of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but also to those violating the liquor ban he imposed throughout Iloilo.
Checkpoints appeared to have ceased on May 16 when the province transitioned from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to general community quarantine (GCQ), said Defensor.
“Damo nagabakal and transport sang liquor,” he pointed out.
The liquor ban was contained in Section 14 of Defensor’s Executive Order (EO) No. 118 placing the province under GCQ.
“The selling, furnishing, offering, buying, serving, dispensing, and transporting of alcoholic beverages such as whisky, brandy, gin, vodka, rum, cocktail, wine, champagne, beer and such other intoxicating drinks shall be prohibited,” read Section 14.
Defensor deemed the liquor ban an important component of the community quarantine, pointing out to the unpredictable behavior of inebriated people; physical distancing may not be followed strictly.
Physical distancing is a precautionary measure against COVID-19. People can catch it from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales, thus keeping considerable distance from one another is highly recommended.
Defensor said there must be checkpoints in every town.
Iloilo has 42 municipalities and one component city, Passi.
As of yesterday, Iloilo had 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases since March this year, data from the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 showed.
Of these 20 cases, 14 already recovered while four died.
This left the province with only two active COVID-19 cases left as of May 24.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan member June Mondejar, chairperson of the Provincial Board’s Committee on Public Order and Security, agreed with Defensor and pointed out several provisions in EO No. 118 that policemen must enforce such as quarantine passes that anyone leaving their houses must have.
In fact, according to Mondejar, only the following are exempted from travel restrictions as identified by Defensor’s EO:
* government official / personnel travelling in the performance of their function
* medical personnel and health / humanitarian workers who shall be performing functions in relation to COVID-19 in the province
* persons granted passage to the airport for travel abroad, or from the airport to the border, provided that, the travel within the province shall be non-stop from the border to the airport or vice versa
* overseas Filipino workers and locally-stranded individuals (LSIs) returning to the province
* other persons transported through the efforts of the national government upon conduct of the necessary protocols and in concurrence with the receiving local government unit
* residents of Iloilo City and the province of Guimaras travelling therefrom, and into the province/PN
I would think that only 0.01 % of the people act inappropriately under alcohol. This means that 99.99% cannot enjoy a beer, rum&coke, etc. because of a few irresponsible people! Total government overreach.